The memorial includes a garden and a monument, made with steel from the former World Trade Center in New York, inscribed with the names of those who died in the attacks.

The four-year, $250,000 project was funded by donations, said Jim Asbury, chairman of the Napa 9/11 Memorial Coalition. It was designed by Napa artist Gordon Huether and Napa landscape architect Gretchen Stranzl McCann.

"This memorial is pretty spectacular," Asbury said. "We're trying to get people to remember and reflect. Twelve years ago, something horrible happened to our country."

The memorial is located on city-owned land at Main and Pearl streets near the Kohl's parking lot.

Marie Webber and her sister, Virginia Christian, studied a translucent panel listing historical facts about the victims of the attacks. They were surprised to learn that those who perished that day hailed from 93 different nations.

Webber called it an "honor" for Napa to have the memorial. She said it will serve the same purpose as memorials for the attacks on Pearl Harbor, which she said she witnessed as the 22-year-old wife of a U.S. Navy serviceman. Webber is now 95.

"People from generations down who weren't born on 9/11 will have it to remember, because it's part of their history," she said.

Bob Ross, a retired PG&E customer service representative who lives in Napa, said the memorial will serve as a reminder that the attacks were felt by all Americans.

"It just brings what was there, here, and puts it in our face in a way that we need, to remember," he said.

Steve Crego, who is Napa's electrical supervisor, was working in the city's 911 dispatch center when the attacks stunned everyone into silence.

"It did happen to all of us. This brings it home," said Crego, who helped with lighting on the memorial.